Product Overview

In this five disc collection, 20th Century Fox has brought together five films celebrating the art of acting. Featuring spectacular leading lady performances, the Best Actress Collection includes the films ANASTASIA, THE THREE FACES OF EVE, BOYS DON'T CRY, NORMA RAE, and WALK THE LINE!

ANASTASIA: For years rumors abound that only Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, survived a Bolshevik attack on her family in 1918. Because a huge fortune awaits Anastasia, greedy expatriate Russian General Bounine (Yul Brynner) attempts to groom a beautiful destitute woman (Bergman) to pass for the empress. The woman becomes so convincing that even the General suspects she really is Anastasia. But in order to escape poverty, she must prove her identity to Anastasia's grandmother (Helen Hayes) in a story that remains one of the most cherished classics.

THE THREE FACES OF EVE: Based on Corbett H. Thigpen's novel of the same name, THE THREE FACES OF EVE follows the fascinating story of a deeply troubled young Southern housewife. Suffering from headaches, emotional upset, and forgetfulness, Eve White sees a psychiatrist, Dr. Luther (Lee J. Cobb). At first Luther gives Eve banal, commonsense advice and sends her home to her husband (David Wayne). But as Eve's condition worsens, Luther hypnotizes her, unveiling two additional personalities within the woman-a vamp and an independent sophisticate. But curing Eve will require a deep probe into an abusive past and support from her less-than-supportive husband. With narration by the inimitable Alistair Cooke, THE THREE FACES OF EVE is intriguing drama at its classic best.

BOYS DON'T CRY: A true story about hope, fear, and the courage it takes to be yourself, BOYS DON'T CRY is "One of the 10 Best Films of 1999" (National Board of Review). Critically acclaimed and nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, this four-star, "must-see" (People), "riveting" (Entertainment Weekly) drama features incredible performances by newcomers Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny.

NORMA RAE: Set in the industrial South and based on a true story, Martin Ritt's NORMA RAE, starring Sally Field, is a moving portrait of a woman's fight to improve both her own life and the deplorable conditions that exist in the mill where she works. Norma Rae is a lively working mother in a Alabama milltown. She works at the Henley mill alongside her family and friends and is content with her "nothing special" life until she meets Reuben, a dedicated labor organizer from New York. She realizes how intolerable the mill's working conditions are, and begins the long struggle to unionize her factory.

WALK THE LINE: With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as dark as the night, the legendary "Man in Black" revolutionized music - and forged his legacy as a genuine American icon. Golden Globe winners Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star (and sing) as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this inspiring true story of one man's unwavering devotion to his sound, his message and the greatest love of his life.

Actors

Cast & Crew

Awards

Winner (2006)

Golden Globe, Reese Witherspoon, [Walk] Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy,Oscar, Reese Witherspoon, [Walk] Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role,Screen Actors Guild, Reese Witherspoon, [Walk] Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Winner (2000)

Golden Globe, Hilary Swank, [Boys] Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama,Independent Spirit, Hilary Swank, [Boys] Best Female Lead,Oscar, Hilary Swank, [Boys] Best Actress in a Leading Role

Winner (1980)

Golden Globe, Sally Field, [Norma] Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama,Oscar, Sally Field, [Norma] Best Actress in a Leading Role

Winner (1979)

Cannes Film Festival, Sally Field, [Norma] Best Actress

Winner (1958)

Golden Globe, Joanne Woodward, [Three] Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama,Oscar, Joanne Woodward, [Three] Best Actress in a Leading Role

Winner (1957)

Golden Globe, Ingrid Bergman, [Anastasia] Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama,Oscar, Ingrid Bergman, [Anastasia] Best Actress in a Leading Role

Reviews

ReviewSource

Movie Gazette

Review

[Anastasia] Ingrid Bergman stars as Anna Corev, an amnesiac woman who has been released from an asylum in Bucharest and is wandering the streets of Paris in 1928. About to kill herself by throwing herself into the Seine, she is saved by Bounin (Yul Brynner) a Russian general in exile. Bounin is seeking a woman to impersonate Grand Duchess Anastasia, the daughter of the murdered Tsar of Russia who has long been rumoured to have survived the revolution, in order to claim a substantial inheritance. Tired and alone, Anna agrees to let Bounin with his associates Chernov (Akim Tamiroff) and Petrovin (Sascha Pitoeff) train her in the ways of Russian royalty in order to claim the prize...Anastasia is a romantic fantasy rather than an accurate historical piece, and on that level it is spectacular. Sumptuous, beautiful to look at and meticulous in its detail, it is an example of very fine filmmaking. However high the production values, it is the cast that carries this film, with outstanding performances all round. Ingrid Bergman shows great depth and quality as Anna, while Yul Brynner is the perfect romantic lead. Nearly fifty years old, the film has hardly dated at all and stands up well to the test of time.

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Reviewer

Andrea Chee

ReviewRating

8

ReviewSource

Spirituality & Practice

Review

[Norma] This inspiring movie really connects with our emotions. Director Martin Ritt tackles the subject of unions with an earnestness that is rarely seen in films today. Screenplay writers Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., wisely focus on people rather than abstractions. The story's heroes are well developed and understandable; and there are no cardboard villains...Sally Field has the meatiest role of her career as Norma Rae. At the heart of the story is her relationship with Reuben...Ron Leibman's portrait of Reuben is intense, witty, and convincing. He's off balance in this Southern community yet he keeps on his feet and manages to bring his message across.

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Reviewer

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

ReviewRating

9

ReviewSource

DVD Verdict

Review

[Three] The Three Faces of Eve (1957) is based on a book by Corbett Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley that was published earlier that same year. It was an instant bestseller, and producer and director Nunnally Johnson, who also wrote the screenplay, immediately snapped up the rights. America's interest in psychotherapy had been sparked in the 1940s by films like Lady in the Dark (1944), in which the professional editor of a popular ladies' magazine suffered though headaches and daydreams. Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) dealt with amnesia and suppressed memories. And Robert Siodmak's The Dark Mirror (1946) was a thriller about good-and-evil twin sisters. The last, in fact, was a novel adapted to the screen by none other than Nunnally Johnson himself. The Three Faces of Eve gave Johnson a shot at combining all of these elements into a documentary-style feature film that would draw the same audience that devoured the book and wanted to see Eve's story on the big screen...While [Johnson's] direction is television-competent, two other lead actors, David Wayne and Lee J. Cobb, and the celebrated cinematographer Stanley Cortez got short-changed in the transition.

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Reviewer

George Hatch

ReviewRating

9

ReviewSource

Chicago Sun-Times

Review

[Boys] Kimberly Peirce who directed this movie and co-wrote it with Andy Bienen, was faced with a project that could have gone wrong in countless ways. She finds the right note. She never cranks the story up above the level it's comfortable with; she doesn't underline the stupidity of the local law-enforcement officials because that's not necessary; she sees Tom and John not as simple killers but as the instruments of deep ignorance and inherited anti-social pathology. (Tom knows he's trouble; he holds his hand in a flame and then cuts himself, explaining, "This helps control the thing inside of me so I don't snap out at people.") The whole story can be explained this way: Most everybody in it behaves exactly according to their natures. The first time I saw the movie, I was completely absorbed by the characters--the deception, the romance, the betrayal. Only later did I fully realize what a great film it is, a worthy companion to those other masterpieces of death on the prairie, "Badlands" and "In Cold Blood." This could have been a clinical Movie of the Week, but instead it's a sad song about a free spirit who tried to fly a little too close to the flame.